BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Egyptian security forces spoke to Ma’an on Monday, alleging that members of the so-called Islamic State group executed a woman and kidnapped her husband and three children in the northern Sinai Peninsula near the border with the Gaza Strip, for allegedly cooperating with Egyptian security forces.

Egyptian security sources and eyewitnesses said that militants raided the home of Iman al-Issawi in the village of Yamit east of Rafah, and dragged al-Issawi outside of the house and executed her in public.

As al-Issawi was being executed, the militants tied, blindfolded and took her husbanded and three children to an unknown location, sources told Ma’an.

The body of al-Issawi was transferred to Rafah hospital.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian army officer and three soldiers were injured Monday morning after an explosive device went off in the Sinai Peninsula city of al-Arish, hours after an Egyptian sniper stationed in the city was killed.

Violence in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula involving the Islamic State-affiliated Sinai Province group -- formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- has escalated since Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi took power from Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, and has since left hundreds killed, including civilians, security forces, and alleged militants.